“I am not a lover of mate but this one is pretty good. There is a little bit of the earthiness that mate tends to have but in this cup it is highlighting the toffee elements of this tea. It is sweet...”
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WOOT!!! Guess who just got hired by Tea Desire! That’s right, me! I’m absolutely freaking out from the excitement! And of course, what was my first (ok, maybe not my first – but top five for sure) thought? How is this going to affect my Steepster reviews? Because, well, I drink Tea Desire’s blends quite often and I already have a ton of reviews up for their blends.

So – what is the most fair/reasonable thing to do? I want to be absolutely transparent in that I have no intention of high scoring anything just to raise the ratings of the blends and if that means not actually giving a rating to the teas I try, then I’m ok with that. However, I would like to keep reviewing and logging the teas – so is that ok if I’m not actually scoring them?

And then – what about the blends I’ve already tried and scored? Would it be better if I removed the ratings on them or is it ok to leave them up since I reviewed/rated them prior to being hired by Tea Desire?

Thoughts and Opinions of others very much welcomed.

I made a Tea Desire blend in “celebration”, and also because I needed the little extra energy. The taste of the cup is no different than what I’ve stated in previous reviews.

Anyway, I start on Thursday the day after I get back from my vacation…

omg! I’d been hoping to read this news! Congratu-friggin-lations, woman!! ya ya ya ya ya ya yaya!!!!!! I have no advice re what you should do, but imagine that you could probably ge some guidance from the people who hired you.

Funnily enough, Steepster was one of the things discussed during my interviews (I had three) – so they are aware I’m using it to review teas. I want to take them into consideration as well as other Steepster members; I definitely don’t want people to feel like I’m exploiting the review system or anything like that. Does anyone know what other people who have been hired by, say, DAVIDsTEA or Teavana have done?

I hope for everyone’s sake that tea desire’s policy on reviews is more…flexible than that of Teavana’s. Several steepsterites have been fired for various steepster-related reasons, although I seriously doubt tea desire is equally…rigid.

@Keychange: Oh wow – that’s pretty awful. I don’t think they’ll be that rigid. After all, like I said, it was mentioned in my interviews that I do frequently use Steepster (and this was with the head of the company), so it shouldn’t be a shock. I think it should be fine to leave all my reviews from prior to being hired intact like they currently are (ratings and all). Maybe the best solution is just to leave all future reviews unrated? And maybe just describe what I taste without stating a personal like/dislike towards it? Just facts, if you will.

Congrats to You!!! If you talked about reviewing during interviews, I would assume they are OK with it, but then again assuming can get you in… If you are a little leery about bringing it up maybe ask a coworker if they try different teas, talk with people about them, and such. I bet a coworker will help steer you in the direction that you will be comfortable with, if not in where to find out more info or give your info themselves that steers you into a comfort zone on how to proceed.

I honestly think it would be best to get advice right from the HR people; they’ll be honest about what the company will find acceptable, and it’s always better to sort this out in advance rather than risk them reacting to something they’re not happy about. So so excited for you!

I would do as suggested about getting advice from HR. In my opinion I think it is ok to review the tea, but I would suggest not giving it a numerical rating. That way you can show “bias” by rating all the teas super high, etc.

Thanks for the congratulations all of you :) I’m super excited, and will definitely inquire in person how they feel about my posting reviews, and in the mean time I just wont post anything Tea Desire review related.

I am not a lover of mate but this one is pretty good. There is a little bit of the earthiness that mate tends to have but in this cup it is highlighting the toffee elements of this tea. It is sweet and reminds me a bit of skor bars. Its not something I need to keep around but its not something I would turn away either. And with my last couple of tsps, I think I will be trying this as a latte. Thank you Roswell Strange for sending some my way. I can see why you are such a fan.

so. Mate and i, we don’t get along…..usually. In this instance, this tea makes it work. It’s not going to be my favourite tea but this was pretty enjoyable. It’s got a good taste that blends well with the mate without leaving that taste in my mouth that i dislike strongly.
Thanks for letting me try this one Roswell Strange